LIZ Truss announced on Thursday she would be departing Number 10 in just a week’s time after just 44 days in office.
A new prime minister will be installed by next Friday, but whether or not there will be a new face on the doorstep remains to be seen, for there are calls for Truss’s predecessor Boris Johnson to return.
Despite him breaking the law during the coronavirus lockdown, unlawfully proroguing Parliament and currently being under investigation for misleading the House, many have already declared they would like to see him back at the top.
Here we sum up who has said what about a potential Johnson comeback.
Who is supporting him?
Johnson has amassed a fair few supporters in the aftermath of Truss’s resignation, with his ever-faithful ally Jacob Rees-Mogg declaring he would be backing him on Friday morning.
In total, he has garnered almost 40 backers including former culture secretary Nadine Dorries, Cabinet Office minister Brendan Clarke-Smith and Michael Fabricant.
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace has also ruled himself out of the race today and said he would “lean towards” supporting Johnson.
Levelling Up secretary Simon Clarke and Tory MP Ben Houchen told the Telegraph: "Boris is the person we need to lead our country and our party.
"He won the greatest election victory for years on a mandate to unite and level up the UK, and inspired millions of people who had never voted Conservative before."
Johnson has secured the support of around 40 MPs. He needs 100 to back him by 2pm on Monday in order to make it onto the ballot.
There remain doubts about Johnson managing to gather that much support given he only exited Downing Street in July in disgrace, but huge momentum has gathered in a short space of time.
What are his friends saying?
Johnson is said to have been advised by some close friends not to stand, with one telling the Telegraph “it is too early.”
They said: “In Autumn next year the party will be on its knees. He is walking into a sh*tshow he can’t control. They need to be on their needs.”
What do this family think?
His dad Stanley Johnson suggested he wouldn’t necessarily support his son returning to office.
He told Good Morning Britain: “I am going to listen to what the candidates have to say.
“I will listen to all of them. I will say ‘okay, I think I’m going to support Boris’, but I want to be sure that he is going to stick to the 2019 manifesto.
“And I want to be sure he gives a very strong promise not to proceed with Rees-Mogg’s absurd bill [the retained EU law bill] which will lead to the scrapping of 750 environmental laws.
“I hope that Boris will take a very tough line on Rees-Mogg.”
His sister Rachel Johnson was a guest on Question Time on Thursday night where she described Keir Starmer as “a Prime Minister in waiting”.
She said the Tory government were “exhausted” and “depleted” and needed a period in opposition.
What do his rivals say?
Johnson has not just created enemies outside his party, but he now has many inside with several Tory MPs suggesting it would be a disaster for him to return to office.
Veteran MP Roger Gale has gone as far as to say he would quit the party if Johnson came back as leader while Jesse Norman, minister of state at the Foreign Office, has said choosing Johnson would be an “absolutely catastrophic decision”.
John Baron, another long-serving Tory MP, said he would find it “impossible” to serve under another Johnson administration.
Former Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith added: "If Boris enters the fray, it will be like one of those Netflix series repeats; you watch even though you know how it ends."
Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross has said Johnson would be a “disaster” for the Union.
Speaking to Sky on Thursday night, SNP’s Westminster leader Ian Blackford commented on the prospect of Johnson returning with: “Good grief, heavens, no.”
He added: “Boris Johnson was shown the door and for very good reasons.
“I think the public would really question what the Conservative party are up to if there is any consideration of Boris Johnson coming back again.”
The Scottish Greens have said a Johnson return would be “ridiculous” and would show “total contempt for millions of people who suffered through his terrible tenure”.
Co-leader Patrick Harvie added: “The speculation would be laughable if the consequences weren’t so serious. We only have to think back a matter of weeks to the lies, chaos and incompetence that eventually forced Boris Johnson out of Downing Street.
“It is a sign of how desperate things have become for the Tories when they are even talking about bringing him back.”
